Key Features to Keep in Mind When Evaluating Backup and Restore Solutions

While best practices will vary according to the restore use case, Zetta.net highlights three universal requirements to consider when determining a backup and restore solution. These include:

Performance. Recovering a sizeable database or performing a full server restore requires a different level of performance than restoring a file over the Internet. Given that all file transfer and network protocols are not created equal, the restoration guidelines advise that MSPs seek a solution that is WAN-optimized, leveraging capabilities like advanced data compression and multi-threaded data transfer to move large amounts of data quickly and securely over the Internet.

Security. The Internet can lack security, so it's critical that an enterprise-ready cloud backup solution supports the proper encryption and security standards. The guidelines advise that MSPs look for backup and restore solutions that support encryption both in flight and at rest and WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) to ensure that large amounts of data can be sent online in a secured fashion.

Support. Backup and restore vendors offer a range of approaches and fee structures for support. Some vendors charge a premium monthly fee for support while others charge a percentage of the yearly cost (up to 25 percent) for technical support. MSPs need to help customers factor in support costs as part of their overall evaluation.

Zetta.net, a leading enterprise-grade cloud backup and disaster recovery (DR) solutions provider, recently announced a backup and restore planning guide that identifies four primary restore requirements to keep in mind when evaluating backup and restore solutions. The guidelines provide recovery best practices for managed service providers (MSPs) to help businesses handle the everyday mishaps of data loss caused by human error and hardware failure to the least likely, worst case disaster.

"Headline-grabbing events like a hurricane is what gets companies on the war path to address disaster recovery," said Gary Sevounts, chief marketing officer, Zetta.net. "But it's the everyday human errors -- mistakes such as wiping out a file system or accidentally deleting a critical file -- that are the primary culprits of lost data."

Rather than adopt a solution that only addresses one particular area of recovery, successful MSPs are increasingly aligning with offerings that cover a range of restore requirements. Zetta.net has identified four primary restore use cases and solutions.

With today's modern solutions, enterprises should be able to transform backup and recovery from a low-level legacy IT function to a modern function delivering continuity and value to the entire business. ... More >>